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This is the first installment of our 鈥淩etail and Ecommerce Sales Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps retailers calibrate their sales mix against the market.

This is the first installment of our 鈥淩etail and Ecommerce Sales Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps retailers calibrate their sales mix against the market.

The news: Amazon is testing a rapid delivery service in India that will enable shoppers in Bangalore to receive items like groceries and household items within 15 minutes, per Bloomberg. The available product catalog will vary from groceries to household items, depending on the neighborhood being served.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of February. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

The service is currently being tested by online Asian supermarket Weee!, party supplies seller Oriental Trading Company, and wellness retailer iHerb, with other retailers (including Tillys) set to join soon. The solution puts Amazon in direct competition with companies like ad tech giant Criteo as well as Publicis, both of which have benefited considerably from the retail media boom.

While Amazon dominates, Walmart and Temu are growing faster, and more retailers across sectors鈥攆rom department stores to grocery to specialty retailers鈥攁re setting up their own marketplaces. As marketplaces compete for sellers, their operators will strive to provide customer data and tools that can drive sales. Mobile is critical to supporting cross-channel engagement.

The success of Walmart+, which offers free grocery delivery, has also boosted the retailer鈥檚 ecommerce operations, driving many of the program鈥檚 31.8 million users to consider Walmart their default option for online purchases. As a result, Walmart鈥檚 online sales beat our ecommerce growth expectations by a delta of 210 basis points. Off-price.

Grocery TV. Merkle. Morning Consult. Path to Purchase Institute. Retail Systems Research. Skai.

Amazon鈥檚 everyday essentials business鈥攚hich includes nonperishable groceries along with beauty, health, and personal care products鈥攊s growing 50% faster than the rest of its retail business, retail CEO Doug Herrington said at an all-hands meeting, largely because more than half of those essentials are now being delivered same- or next-day.

Trump鈥檚 proposed tariffs could sharply increase grocery bills, as about 60% of fresh fruit and 40% of fresh vegetables in the US are imported. Mexico, which faces a potential 25% tariff, is the leading source of these imports. Meanwhile, climate change will likely continue to disrupt agriculture, with last year鈥檚 adverse weather driving up prices for staples like cocoa, coffee, and oranges.

Meanwhile, value and specialty grocery chains saw high growth in visits on the day before Thanksgiving when compared with last year, per Placer.ai data. Grocery Outlet Bargain Market saw a 13.5% growth in YoY visits. Lesson: "The holiday season, as a whole, is as important, if not more important, than it was. I'd argue it's more important," Chernofsky said.

Only 13% of Gen Zers say store rewards/loyalty programs are the most important factor in grocery store selection. What it means for 2025: Another sign of Gen Z鈥檚 interest in value, Gen Z looks to loyalty programs to maximize their purchases.

The UK鈥檚 leading grocery retailers鈥擳esco, Sainsbury鈥檚, Asda and Morrisons鈥攈ave all launched retail media networks (RMNs) in recent years, offering opportunities both in-store and online. The UK is already an advanced digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad market.

Online grocery purchasing will account for just 9.5% of category sales in 2024, but that equates to 16.7% of total retail ecommerce sales in Canada. Similarly, click-and-collect penetration of grocery is still small, but it outsizes many categories because of grocery鈥檚 large share of household spending. Domestic giants have doubled down on digital grocery.

The Digital Grocery Opportunity (蘑菇AV subscription required).